There is a point of view that declares it is impossible to be perfect. There is another point of view that believes we must be perfect before Jesus can come. Taken together these views have made a discussion of Christian perfection a "no, no," in polite Christian circles.

Yet, we shouldn't neglect to talk about perfection, because the Scripture is full of the word. The Scripture calls us to be perfect. In I Thessalonians. 5:23 it says, "May the God of peace perfect you." Genesis 17:1, "I am the almighty God, walk before Me and be thou perfect." Deuteronomy 18:13, "Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord your God." 1 Kings 8:61, "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God." 2 Chronicles 16:9, "The eyes of the Lord run to and from throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him." Ps. 101:2, "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way." Psalm 138:8, "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me." Luke 6:40, "The disciple is not above His master, but everyone that is perfect shall be as his master. II Corinthians 7:1, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit. Perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Corinthians 13:11, "This we pray even for your perfection. Finally brethren, be perfect." Colossians 1:27-28, "Christ in you, the hope of glory whom we preach. Warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ." Colossians 4:12, "Laboring fervently for you in prayers that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Hebrews 6:1, "Therefore learning the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection." Hebrews 13:21, "God make you perfect in every good work to do His will." James 1:4, "Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire wanting in nothing." 1 Peter 5:10, "But the God of all grace shall perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you."

Not only does the Scripture call us to perfection but it speaks about people who were perfect. The first person to have the word perfect applied to him was Noah. Genesis 6:9 says that "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God." Later in Genesis we find that this perfect man who walked with God was also the one who whipped up a little "home brew" and got drunk.

There was another person the Bible calls perfect and that was Job. God Himself called him a perfect and contrite man. But he must not have had it all together yet, because Job himself said, " I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6).

Then there was David. 1 Kings 11:4 speaks of David having a heart perfect with the Lord. Let's not even talk about David's deeds. In addition to his sin with Bathsheba, he was a guerilla fighter for years, and as a father his record wasn't so good either. Another man referred to in Scripture as perfect was King Asa. It is said of him that his heart was perfect with the Lord all his days (I Kings 15:14).

Referring to these men as perfect while looking at some of the things that they did can appear to create a contradiction of terms. But this is not the case. When the Scripture refers to these men as perfect, it is not looking at their ways, because from time to time these men made mistakes. It is referring to their heart. It speaks of their having a heart perfect before the Lord. A heart that is wholly consecrated to God and dedicated to fellowship to Him is a perfect heart. A man whose heart is wholly for God is a perfect man.

The Scriptures go on to describe God's perfect ones who have made a perfect commitment as being in the process of being perfected (Philippians 3:13-15). You see, a person with a perfect heart will pray and strive to be perfect in practice as well. How can a person who is totally committed to God desire anything less than to perfectly do His will?

The Psalmist says, "I will delight to do Thy precepts. With my whole heart will I observe Thy law. Thy law is my delight. I will refrain my heart from every evil way." (Psalm 40:8; 119, 101 paraphrased). With our hearts perfect before Him, we will desire to perfectly do His will. We will desire to be obedient.

Not only are we perfect in our commitment, not only are we being perfected day by day, but this process of being perfected will never end. "And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence, and happiness increase." (The Great Controversy, page 678).

Our problem is that sin has led us to see the abnormal as normal and to accept the unacceptable. We have become so accustomed to our imperfection, that we actually defend selfishness, pride, lust, criticism, and the lack of self-control which are seen as normal, or if not normal as permanent disabilities which somehow we must live with in spite of the personal and social devastation they cause. Man was created perfect in the image of a perfect God. God will not be satisfied until He has restored to us the perfection that was lost. I will not be satisfied either. The Bible writers were not satisfied with the status quo.

It is incredible but for many perfection is perfect except where we really need it, and that is in the kind of people we are. Many desire to have a perfect figure, get a perfect job or be a perfect basketball player, but in the Christian life they don't try to be perfect or say they don't believe it is possible.

It is the goal of perfection that gives hope and direction to the Christian life. A person who does not know where they are going doesn't know when they get off the road. How can we have target practice unless we have a target?

Of course we must avoid the extreme positions that are often the result of what is referred to as "perfectionism." Some have said they have seen perfectionism slay its thousands. This may be true but imperfectionism has slain its ten thousands. Many are soothing themselves saying that nobody is perfect. Sadly they are making little progress in the Christian walk because they have never known that they can serve God with a perfect heart and that a perfect heart is the secret to a perfect way.

The problem that many sincere Christians have with the doctrine of Christian perfection is that it seems to clash with the great truth of justification by faith. When properly understood it does not. Perfection is a fruit of what Jesus has done for us through His death and resurrection (Romans 5:10).

A few years ago I was mulling over the concept of perfection in light of the fact that it is something that can easily divide Christians when it is actually a great truth that should unite us. I happen to keep a journal. In trying to resolve the tension between the points of view, I wrote the following which has helped me to understand some of the issues that are involved: "There is a difference between Godlikeness and being gods. God's perfection is the way He is intrinsically. In Him is life, unborrowed and underived. Our life is and always will be borrowed and derived. In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:26). And this is going to be our permanent state. Even when we get to heaven we will always have to eat from the tree of life (Revelation 22:2). God's work in our life is always a perfect work. He saw what He made, and behold it was very good. His work in our lives is perfect, yet He is continuing to perfect us.

"It has been cited that Jesus will come when His people perfectly reflect His character. We emphasis the word "perfectly" and sometimes overlook the significance of the word "reflect". We must never forget that we will always be only reflectors. He is as it were the sun, we are the moon. The moon gives a perfect reflection of the sun because it reflects the sun and the sun only. Yet it is not a total reflection of the sun. The sun still has more light than the moon can reflect. Yet the moon itself is reflecting all of the sun it can, given its size and distance from it. Obviously, if the moon were nearer to the sun, it would reflect more of its light.

"The moon cannot become a sun because of its nature. It is combustible and must be content to be a reflector. To perfectly reflect the character of Christ means that it will be His character that is reflected and not that of another. Yet it will always be less than Christ because it will be always be a reflection, albeit unobstructed. As moons are of different sizes, so we as individuals are different. The reflection of Christ in the lives of His people throughout the ages is always influenced by the "size and distance" from the Son. Yet the reflection is always perfect because Jesus the perfect Sun of Righteousness is the source of the light. Though we don't all reflect the same amount of light, like Noah and David of old we serve Him with a perfect heart.

"We must always bear in mind that perfection is not established by being compared with something that is imperfect. Something is called perfect because of its relationship to the standard, not to the broken or inferior.

"Perfection in the Christian life has to do with the Christian's relationship to God and His holiness, not with his relationship to sin and the devil. Sin is another issue. The goal of the Christian life is not simply to be sinless but to be holy in Christ. 'And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God' (Romans 12:2). Victorious Christian living, therefore, is a means to an end and not an end in itself. Because of this, we must always see sin as an enemy, because just as the moon's relationship to the earth will affect its ability to reflect the sun, so our relationship to the earth will affect our ability to reflect the Sun of Righteousness."

I have seven grandchildren. The newest one is a year old. She is just learning to walk. She cannot talk or feed herself or care for even her most basic needs, yet she is perfect. Not as perfect as she will be as she grows and develops but as perfect as she needs to be given how old she is. She was born perfect, she is being perfected, and one day she will be perfect. Do you see? To those of us who are sons and daughters of God with our hearts perfect toward Him He is working in us both to will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). And best of all we have the promise that "He who has begun this good work in us will peform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

So let's not fight perfection. Let's go on to perfection. A perfect God can demand no less than perfection from His people. "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Let us expect to be perfect in Christ.